Neptunus collected 18 basehits, but six of them came in the ninth inning.
The Rotterdam-team briefly trailed 1-0, then turned the game around from the third inning on and scored five runs in three at bats.
However, after eight innings, Neptunus led only 5-3.
The team then staged a 4-run rally in the ninth to decide the outcome and secure second place in the Top-4 Pool.
Stijn van der Meer, Dwayne Kemp and Christian Diaz all got three basehits.
Twins Oosterhout opened the score in the bottom of the first inning off of starter Aaron de Groot.
The righthander gave up a lead-off double to Rayshelon Carolina, who moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Railison Bentura, then scored on a single by Tyriq Kemp.
In the second inning, Twins came into scoring position again.
This time, Urving Kemp led off with a single.
He advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Jarreau Martina.
But Aaron de Groot struckout the next two batters.
...Sheadion Jamanika...
...2 doubles, 4 RBI's, 2 runs scored...
(© Photo: Robert Bos) |
Neptunus came close to opening the score in the top of the first inning off of lefthander Ryan Huntington.
He gave up a lead-off single to Stijn van der Meer, who later stranded on third base.
Another runner was left behind in scoring position in the second at bat.
Christian Diaz singled with one out, then stole second base with two outs, but also stranded.
Trailing 1-0, Neptunus took over the lead in the top of the third inning.
With one out, Stijn van der Meer and Jiandido Tromp singled and both scored when next batter John Polonius also singled.
Two more runs were added in the fourth, which began with a triple, then a double, then a single.
Christian Diaz led off with a triple and scored on a following double by Sheadion Jamanika, who then scored on a single by Greg Muller.
Moments later, Jamanika scored on a sacrifice fly by Dave Janssen (who last season played for Twins), which lifted the lead to 4-1.
In the fifth, another extra-basehit contributed to the fifth Neptunus-run.
With one out, Roger Bernadina singled and he scored on a double by Dwayne Kemp.
For Neptunus, the scoring stopped after the fifth inning.
The team was held scoreless in the next three at bats, while Twins came back into the game by scoring two runs.
Twins was unable to do something back in the third, fourth and fifth inning.
After being retired in order in the third and fourth, the team got a baserunner in the fifth when Jarreau Martina led off with a walk.
But with two outs, Martina was caught stealing after a pick-off by Aaron de Groot.
After Neptunus left two runners behind in the top of the sixth off of Chikara Igami, Twins scored its second run in the bottom of the sixth.
Lead-off hitter Rayshelon Carolina reached second base when a throwing error was made on his grounder.
With one out, he scored on a single by Tyriq Kemp.
Neptunus left two more runners behind in the top of the seventh off of Igami and stranded a runner on second base in the eighth off of veteran righthander Elton Koeiman.
Twins then narrowed the deficit to 5-3 by scoring another run in the bottom of the eighth off of Jayden Gonesh, who took over the pitching from Aaron de Groot.
The righthander began by walking the first batter he faced, Max Kops.
He then stole second base and scored on an one-out single by Railison Bentura.
With two outs, Gonesh walked Jason Halman, but this time, Twins left two runners behind.
In the top of the ninth, Neptunus rallied for four runs to take more distance.
New pitcher Pastor Enrique Martínez Chevez gave up four consecutive basehits, which led to the first three runs.
The righthander got the bases loaded when Roger Bernadina, Dwayne Kemp and Christian Diaz all singled.
All three then scored when next batter Sheadion Jamanika delivered a baseclearing, 3-run double.
Martínez retired the next two batters, but Jamanika went on to score the fourth run in this at bat on an infield-hit by Jiandido Tromp.
With a 9-3 lead, Kevin Kelly closed the game for Neptunus by throwing the ninth inning.
The righthander retired the side to seal the win.
|
Neptunus wins to become second team in Wild Card Top Series & Play-Offs
OOSTERHOUT (Neth.) -
Curaçao Neptunus became the second team to secure a spot in both the Wild Card Top Series and the Play-Offs by winning 9-3 against Twins Oosterhout in Saturday (August 6).
With the win, Neptunus decided the final ranking in the Top-4 Pool.
Last Thursday, leader L&D Amsterdam Pirates claimed first place by winning it opener against HCAW.
That left Neptunus and HCAW in contention for second place.
Today, HCAW won the second game against Pirates (7-3) and had to hope that Neptunus would end up losing against Twins.
That didn't happen.
With that, Neptunus and HCAW could end up in a tie on Sunday when the final games of the regular season will be played.
But because Neptunus had won the two head-to-head series against HCAW in the Top-4 Pool, it will finish in second place.
Of the six games played against HCAW, Neptunus won four, lost one and one game ended in a tie.
Neptunus finishes in second place in the Top-4 Pool.